Customer Reviews

The Unknown God: W.T. Smith and the Thelemites

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The Unknown God stands out as one of the most important and insightful books on Aleister Crowley and his circle written to date. It recounts in fascinating detail the history of W. T. Smith and what might be termed 'the first generation' of Crowley's North American followers. What unfolds is truly an extraordinary story, which follows Smith and his small group as they slide from the pinnacles of mystical aspiration to the depths of human folly in their quest for individual and personal fulfilment.

The book's author, Martin Starr, is already well known for his skilful introductions to the Teitan Press editions of Crowley's works, and The Unknown God exhibits the same clear prose and depth of research that are their hallmark. Starr's rigorous scholarship is complemented by a genuine empathy for the people whose lives he explores, and a profound understanding of the mechanics of Thelemic occultism. As such The Unknown God transcends the divide between 'academic studies' and 'insider's accounts' into which such works usually fall. In short it is a well-written, lucid, and often amusing study of an until-now neglected aspect of spiritual and social history. It is sure to appeal to anyone with an interest in the subject, and I commend it to them without reservation.

I've been studying magick for the last 20 or so years, and have long felt that Crowley was witty, insightful, inspired, etc. I usually end up defending his work, when I discuss it with people who aren't that familiar with him (no, he REALLY wasn't advocating human sacrifice hehe).

So I was looking forward to reading this. And boy is the book depressing. Crowley, for as inspired as his works are, was clearly the single worst influence on the Thelema movement during his lifetime. His constant greedy begging for money, his participation in the silly little drama-filled spats by long distance letter-writing, his incomprehensible telegrams, his unhealthy obsession with defaming Annie Besant & co, his obsession with suing people left and right, his obsession with the various Masonry groups...it's amazing that the Los Angeles Thelemites got anything done at all, with all of that going on. Heck it's amazing CROWLEY got anything done at all! Crowley himself drove more people to leave the Order, just based on hearsay and misunderstandings.

It is depressing, because this man was supposedly an Ipsissimus, and yet in his personal and business life, he behaved like some crack addict on the Rikki Lake Show! It's all the more disconcerting, because you know that Crowley is working with Freida Harris on the Book of Thoth while a lot of this soap opera is unfolding, which is probably his most enduring legacy.

Smith comes across as very sympathetic, though certainly not perfect. Most of the other people come across as very human, flawed people trying to better themselves. A few are clearly insane, and not in a good way. I must agree with the other reviewer, that it appears to have been more of a personality cult, than anything else. Whether the modern OTO is still like this, I wouldn't know. Though having read this book, I'm inclined to give any magick order a wide berth, and continue with solo work. (In fairness, every order I've read about has been plagued with similar problems).

I'm afraid the book will be nearly incomprehensible to anyone already not thoroughly versed in what Thelema is all about. But then anyone not thoroughly versed in the subject would probably not buy the book in the first place. The book is copiously sprinkled with footnotes; it was clearly well researched. I give it a 4 out of 5 only because it could have used more/better editing...it's a little hard to follow at times.

Fortunately the author doesn't ramble on as much as I do!

Martin Starr has written the definitive history of the OTO in North America. The fascination for us in examining this history is the observing the inner nobility and often mundane outer lives of those who tread the esoteric way. Biographies of occultists in general are not often "exciting" in terms of events in their outer lives, but rather in the viewing of the rich inner landscape such persons possess and what motivates them to pursue such arcane studies with little compensation as to what many would consider edifying ones life in the world. This work goes toward a psychological/sociological study of esoteric subcultures.

What one comes away with from reading this expensive but worthy book is the sheer middle class pedestrian qualities of these Thelemites. The OTO comes across as a distincly pseudo- Masonic organization, led by a bullying petulant Aleister Crowley. This reinforced my idea that the OTO is essentially a Crowley personality cult. Most of the characters that inhabit the landscape of this book are not terribly sympathetic, lechery amd egos litter this landscape. Some of the insights we gain is an examination of the North American occult scene through the mid-20th century, the alliances both tried and attempted by members of the OTO with Theosophical, Masonic, and Wandering Bishop bodies & tributaries make for fascinating reading. To see the toadying love/hate relationship Crowley had for Theosophy is amusing. Crowley attempting character assasination of C.W. Leadbeater by accusations of homosexuality & sodomy is the height of absurdity and hypocrisy.

For those that read & enjoyed the biography of Jack Parsons, "Sex and Rockets" published by Feral House and came away wanting more, this book is for you. Does this book motivate my WILL to become a member of the OTO, absolutely not. But of course a reading of the Bible, the book of Mormon & L. Ron Hubbard does not make me want to join those personality cults either. Be that as it may, this is a valuable contribution to the history of 20th century spirituality and Mr. Starr is to be commended.

I highly recommend this book. If you like an interesting biography with lots of background story, colorful personalities, petty ambitions, dry humor and genuine sympathy for the subjects, this book will give you a good read. I could hardly put it down, and it kept me up reading late quite a few evenings.

This book is also one of the few detailed, reliable historical accounts of Aleister Crowley's organisations, the O.T.O. and the A.A., in the North America during his lifetime. Martin P. Starr is able to write with authority on this subject by having had access to the literary estate of Wilfred T. Smith, one of the priciple followers of Aleister Crowley. Smith's papers included the most important correspondence between the O.T.O. members in the U.S. and Crowley. "The Unknown God" fills in the missing historical details left behind by the heretofore major historical books about Aleister Crowley: "The Magical Revival" by Kenneth Grant, and "The Eye in the Triangle" by Isreal Regardie.

For those who are knew to this subject, Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) was a twentieth century occultist. Crowley founded occult schools of arcane wisdom based on european occult societies: the A.A. (Argentium Astrum), founded on the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and the O.T.O. (Ordo Templi Orientis), founded on Freemasonry. Crowley became labeled as a devil worshipper, satanist and black magician after proclaiming himself The Beast, 666. Although having nothing to do with devil worship (his philosophy was taken from eastern and western mysticism, egyptian mythology, hebrew gemutria and christianity), he encouraged this bad press to magnify his notoriety out of proportion to the small number of followers that were ever associated with him.

In addition to being a fascinating book, The Unknown God is an important work on the occult and the history of religious movements. Anyone interested in studying the inside workings of cult organisations should find this book a valuable reference with complete citings of the background documentation. Anyone interested in Aleister Crowley and becoming a disciple of his cult should read this book first. The aura of mystical charisma around a group dissipates when you see into their daily lives, finding that they are just as foolish, if not more foolish, than the rest of us. An example of this in the book is the story of how Aleister Crowley discovered that a god had been exerting a malignant power over the O.T.O. members in California. As we discover the identity of this unknown god we are struck by the great lengths to which people are willing to believe in nonsense, and the human capacity for cruelty. This book should be required reading for researchers of new religion movements, and I think should be regarded as one of the principle histories of Crowley and his followers.

To tell the story of the occult order, the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO), in North America during the early 20th century, Starr organizes his narrative around the one person who consistently was there throughout the OTOs development, W. T. Smith. The book is valuable for it extensive citation of correspondence between the main actors in the order, much of it in the authors private collection. And through his organization or that material, Starr is able to show the trails of the men and women who tried to establish a new religion, Thelema, in the US and Canada in this particular institutional form.

My biggest complaint is that Starr never really delves into what motivates the actors in this drama. As a result, they easily come across as kooky outsiders primarily motivated by self-interest, which never really helps the reader understand why these people embraced this particular religious vision. Initially, I thought this might be due to lack of evidence, but after reading the materials he includes in his appendix, it is clear that the people he examines are constantly discussing their different understandings of Thelema and how they see it as part of their lives.

Starr does show a genuine empathy for the people he studies, and he is clearly conversant with the intricacies of Aleister Crowley's work and Thelema. Perhaps it is this closeness to the material, though, that blinds him to the fact that readers may need a clearer understanding of how members of the OTO understood Thelema and why they embraced it. One Amazon reviewer commented that Starr really shows the "sheer middle class pedestrian qualities of these Thelemites," but this really contributes little to understanding the particulars of Thelemic religion in its institutional forms.

The Unknown God is a biography of W. T. Smith and incidentally a history of his fellows in and around the American branch of the Ordo Templi Orientis as they all helped to promote and practice the Law of Thelema (to `Do What Thou Wilt'). The narrative goes on up 'til the end of Smith's life.

The title derives from Aleister Crowley's late term supposition that Smith was actually an unidentified deity, after which Crowley demanded that Smith remove himself from association with his closest friends who were all in the Thelemic community, for a prolonged "magickal retirement," through which Smith was expected to ascertain the nature of his own divinity.

Perhaps we are each an unknown god: unknown to our selves and thus to others. This is but one of a many points of interest that dot the landscape of this book. However, Mr. Starr's careful reading of Crowley's letters pin points other motivations for Crowley's action vis a vis Smith, in this regard. Read it and find out.

In this retelling of the tale of American Thelemites, I was primarily struck by the overbearing, cavalier and bullying arrogance of the Great Beast AKA Crowley; and by the surfeit of back biting and intrigue amongst such a small group of people. Sourced primarily from diaries and letters (particularly the personal papers of W.T. Smith provided by to the author by Helen Parsons Smith), the esoteric or mystical ideas involved are not as important in The Unknown God as are all of the practical and mundane facts, the shifting relationships, betrayals, survivals, etc.

The world of these eccentric, adventuresome and creative individuals is made quite real and present to the reader primarily through the simple yet artful collation of facts related in the writings of the various principles involved. There are some important aspects of the Thelemic 'Great Work' which are high lighted in this Book, such as the physical mechanics of Amrita and some of Crowley's suggested means of finding one's True Will. But, The Unknown God is much more the biography that it purports to be and not an esoteric book.

This is a dense, thorough, balanced and well researched book. One could read it over the better part of a weekend with ease. Indeed, the author's ability to cram a tremendous amount of historical fact into a revelatory narrative makes this a difficult book to put down. It is above all, a very human and fascinating story. The Unknown God is a thick volume, hard cover, from Teitan Press. It is a good investment as well as a great read. The Unknown God will become another standard text for those who study the history of Western esotericism.

BTW, Martin Starr claims that he is a Mason but not a member of the OTO. This work is anything but a shiny gloss on the OTO and Crowley.

This book is great, I didn't know much about the O.T.O. But after reading more about them I am facinated by them. Crowley is definetly a man who's history is plagued by lies and misquotes. Martin Starr spent alot of his time researching and making sure that the facts are just that facts. I recommend this book 10x.

Wow !! That's a great book and a must have for all who have interest in the O.T.O, the Golden Dawn and Occult at large. This is the day-to-day life of a 'Thelema' and O.T.O oriented group, thru the highly coloured life of Wilfred Smith, the leader of the same. Thanks to Martin Starr for having shared with the readers worldwide these unpublished and priceless documents.

After I balked at the cover price on this one, I reconsidered a good friend's enthusiastic recommendation of it, and bought it.

I am very glad that I did. This thorough and elegantly written overview of the life of Smith, the OTO and other highly interesting people and groups, is worth the money. A nice accompaniment to "Perdurabo, The Life of Aleister Crowley," The Unknown God proves a fascinating and delightful read that satisfies your curiosity for the immensely curious!

Wow !! That's a great book and a must have for all who have interest in the O.T.O, the Golden Dawn and Occult at large. This is the day-to-day life of a 'Thelema' and O.T.O oriented group, thru the highly coloured life of Wilfred Smith, the leader of the same. Thanks to Martin Starr for having shared with the readers worldwide these unpublished and priceless documents.